Archives for August 2003

In this beautifully acted piece, written by Geraldine Aron, three sisters find themselves in their old playroom of an attic on hearing their father is ill.

What looks like being a parochial meander through their reminiscences is transformed as they re-enact the terrible shared secret of their childhood.

‘All for one and one for all – the Donahue sisters stick together’ takes on a malignant resonance as we learn of their sibling complicity. The inconsequential to and fro of the opening of the play is thus sent into disturbing relief.

Watching Euripides’ Trojan Women brought to mind contemporary attitudes to the idea of a just war. This young cast powerfully portrayed the aftermath of the mythical end of Troy.

The women recall the ‘honourable deaths’ of their men in the face of a ferocious onslaught. The eventual sacking of the city and their being taken as slaves and concubines by the Greeks doesn’t diminish their spirit – for ‘Troy will be famous’ and ‘time will remember us’.

Tony Blair said history would judge whether he was right to wage war on Iraq. But this is in the absence of any commitment to ‘fight and die for a good cause’. Instead there was a passive opposition at best, or general indifference to the war, whatever it’s for. The moral certainty of having right on their side, of the superiority of their civilisation against the ‘barbarians’ of Greece, is at odds with our cowardly new world.

Dave Clements Limited

I am a writer and consultant with over fifteen years experience working in senior strategic, management, project and engagement roles, and advising local government, the NHS and other public sector and VCS organisations. I am available for commissions.